


See you next life

by VeronicaFerCard



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Alternate Universe - Historical, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, Reincarnation, Suicide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-25
Updated: 2013-06-25
Packaged: 2017-12-16 04:01:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/857542
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VeronicaFerCard/pseuds/VeronicaFerCard
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Arthur and Merlin are together. For three lifes now.</p>
            </blockquote>





	See you next life

It was the third fucking time. It wasn’t funny anymore.

Not that dying was a funny thing. It wasn’t. It was painful, it hurt. But not as much as losing him. Nothing could hurt like that. First it was the Middle Ages, that was his fault. He couldn’t accept Merlin’s gifts back then, too blind from his hatred of magic, from being raised by Uther, too scared to accept. He let Merlin die. Fuck, he killed him. Burned the white beard sorcerer (Dragoon, what a ridiculous name!). The man had screamed and cried, screamed and cried until he was no longer old, until he turned into his idiotic manservant. And then, when Arthur couldn’t believe what he had done. Then it was too late.

So it came the 1800’s. Second time they met. Arthur, the richest farmer in town, had just closed a big deal, he was richer that night than he was when he woke up at morning, he was celebrating in his favorite pub and then there he was. And of course. Oh, of course. He was handing pamphlets just outside the door, shouting, fighting for equality and freedom. As soon as they eyes met it was like someone had turned on the lights, like he had lived all his life in the dark and suddenly he could see the world as it truly was, like he had missed a huge part of his life and he only remembered at that moment. And so did Merlin, for what it seemed. His pamphlets fell to the dirty floor, his speech forgotten. He looked at Arthur and smiled. That big, innocent, lovely smile of his. Oh, how Arthur missed that smile. Merlin went to him, he was clearly going for a hug, but thankfully he remembered they were out in the street. So he just stopped in front of Arthur and offered his hand.

“You’re late,” Merlin said as they shook hands. So calm. Like Arthur was only late for dinner and not hundreds of years had passed.

They spent five year together. This time it was easier. Not so much pressure now that Arthur wasn’t king. But they still had to hide, their love still forbidden. Actually, when Arthur stops to think about it, he much rather the time when he was the ruler because even if people suspect them, he was the king and he could do whatever he wanted to do. No explanations to give. And he could also protect Merlin better at that time, when he was always by his side at the castle. In their second time together Merlin was too busy fighting for the right cause, he was still too naïve, trusting people too easily. That was how Arthur lost him for the second time. Accused of being a rebel Merlin was hanged in from of the whole town, in front of him. And again Arthur was powerless (which was an ironically way to put it considering Merlin had magic and so compare to him Arthur really had no power at all), so he just looked at Merlin for one last time, “I love you, I’m sorry” , he tried to pass the message and he knew deep in his heart that Merlin understood. He closed his eyes, he waited for the sound of the little platform opening beneath Merlin’s feet and then he turned away. That life didn’t last much longer for Arthur, too depress to do anything, he drowned himself in work and alcohol, finding death two years after Merlin.

And so it came the modern days. The glorious modern days where love is no longer only a matter of gender and distance means nothing if you have a mobile. Arthur loves the modern days. Or at least he thought he did. He met Merlin at uni. It was odd. For one part it was great to flirt and kiss him out in the open, but it was strange and it took Arthur a while to realize even though Merlin liked him, he wasn’t reciprocating like the last time, he didn’t remembered.

It had been a month since they were together that Merlin finally remembered. They had fall asleep in the couch, watching some old movie and then Merlin woke up screaming, there were tears in his eyes and he looked at Arthur as if seeing him for the first time.

“You’re back,” he said, and then he hugged Arthur like his life depended on it and whispered in his ear. “I thought I would never see you again.”

Merlin explained to Arthur, he had lived another life after the 1800’s. Arthur wasn’t there. He had looked everywhere, he had traveled the world. He thought he was mad, people thought he was mad. After some time his mom put him in a hospital. There’s no Arthur, they all said to him. It was awful. He closed his eyes and shook his head when Arthur asked how he died in that life.

“You can’t do that again. Promise me.” Arthur didn’t know what scared him more, the possibility of a life without Merlin, or the idea of Merlin killing himself over Arthur.

“I promise you.” Merlin smiled and kissed him for reassurance. Somehow Arthur knew he was lying.

Dying is a natural process, even when you’re killed. It’s a part of nature, and when you mess with its balance things go wrong.

Merlin had problems in this life. A lot of them. He had nightmares that left him shaking and crying for the entire night, sometimes he couldn’t sleep for days. He was a mess, and Arthur knew this was because he didn’t live his former life all the way through it. What Arthur didn’t know was that, to try to fix thing in this life Merlin was using drugs. Not drugs, herbs! It’s all natural, was what he said when Arthur found out.

They had a fight. The first real fight in centuries. Merlin left Arthur’s dorm slamming the door behind him. Arthur was too angry to follow him. When the phone call came in the middle of the night he already knew what to expect. Hell, he even gave a little chuckle. Merlin’s dead. Of course he is. Again.

Again.

Then it came down to him. He let the mobile slip through his hands, it fell on the floor somewhere behind his bed. Arthur closed his eyes and took a deep, shaky breath as the tears started coming down his face. There was nothing he could do. Nothing but cry and wait, wait another hundred years, wait for another life, where he could be with Merlin again.


End file.
